CHAPTER FOUR: THREE ALPHAS ONE MARK

Hours passed in silence before the door opened again. I expected Eloise or Laila, but the scent that entered the room made my heart stop.

It was Rider.

He didn't say a word. He walked into the room and locked the door behind him. He had removed his jacket and tie, the top buttons of his shirt undone. He looked predatory, his Alpha aura filling every corner of the space.

"The Council is satisfied," he said, walking toward me. "But I am not."

"What do you want, Rider?" I whispered, backing away as he approached.

He didn't stop until I was pinned between the bed and his massive frame. He reached out, his hand wrapping around the diamond collar, pulling me forward until our chests were touching.

"The contract says the attempt for an heir begins tonight," he growled, his eyes glowing gold.

My breath hitched. "Rider, please... I’m tired. It’s been too much."

"I don't care if you're tired," he whispered, his lips grazing my neck.

He moved his hand from the collar to the zipper of my dress, but he stopped suddenly. His body went rigid, and his head snapped up, his nostrils flaring as he caught a scent on my skin that shouldn't have been there.

He leaned down, sniffing the spot where Eric had kissed my hand earlier.

His face transformed into a mask of pure, unadulterated rage. A low, vibrating growl started in his chest, a sound so primal it made the glass on the nightstand rattle.

"He touched you," Rider hissed, his voice sounding like tearing metal. "You let that pathetic Alpha put his scent on what belongs to me."

He gripped my shoulders, his fingers digging into my skin. "You think you can play us against each other? You think you can find protection in him?"

"It was just a greeting!" I cried out.

Rider let out a dark, twisted laugh. "A greeting? I'll show you a greeting."

He grabbed my hand, the one Eric had kissed, his eyes flashed with a lethal intent. Without warning, he shoved me down onto the bed, his body pinning me instantly.

"If his scent is on you," Rider whispered, his face inches from mine, "I'll just have to burn it off with my own."

He reached for the collar, but instead of pulling it, he pressed a hidden catch on the side. A sharp, muffled click echoed in the room, and I felt a sudden, searing heat against my skin.

I screamed as a brand-new mark began to glow through the leather of the collar, appearing directly on my skin.

"What are you doing?" I gasped through the pain.

"I'm updating the insurance," Rider growled. "Now, no matter where you go, everyone will know exactly who you've been sleeping with."

But as the glow faded, a look of pure shock crossed Rider’s face. He stared at the mark on my neck, then at the palms of his own hands, which were beginning to glow with the same haunting, silver light.

The Mark of the Fated.

Rider backed away from me as if I were a ghost, his face pale and his eyes wide with horror.

"No," he whispered, shaking his head. "No, it's impossible. Not you."

Before I could ask what was happening, the door to the suite was kicked open. Declan and Raven stood there, their own hands glowing with the same silver light, their expressions a mix of awe and terror.

The Triplets weren't just my owners.

They were all my mates.

I watched as Rider stared at his hands as if it were a curse. 

“What? How?” 

The same light burned in Declan’s hands and Raven’s hands and that could only mean one thing. 

The three of them were my mates! 

I stared at the Mark of the fated on three of them with shock on my face. I felt my wolf stirring up inside making my whole body heat up and pulse. 

Rider’s expression hardened first and then it changed into one of utter disbelief, before twisting into fury so quickly it was almost frightening. His jaw clenched, his shoulders locking as though he could physically resist what had just happened.

“No,” he said again, more sharply this time, as if denial could undo the glow beneath his skin.

Declan looked from his own hands to mine, then to Rider. His voice was lower, steadier, but no less shaken. “It’s real!”

Raven didn't speak, he just stared at his brothers and then his eyes fell on me. He had this dumbfounded expression on his face. 

They all stared at themselves for a while and underneath all the shocked expressions it was written on their face that they had a lot to say.  

Rider’s eyes snapped to me then still pinned against the bed and the mark just under my throat and between my collarbones still faintly shimmered. 

For a fraction of a second, something flashed in his expression and then it was gone. He turned abruptly toward the door.

“Outside,” he suddenly said to his brothers and he opened the door. 

Declan frowned. “Rider.”

“Now.” The command in his voice left no room for argument.

Rider stormed out first, the door slamming hard enough to rattle the walls. Declan hesitated only a moment before following while Raven lingered half a heartbeat longer, his gaze locking with mine.

Then he, too, stepped out and shut the door behind him and the walls reverberated before a calm silence filled the room and silence crashed over the room.

My body gave out the second they were gone and I curled in on myself on the bed, shaking uncontrollably. The pain from the collar had faded, but the echo of it still pulsed through my nerves. 

I had three Mates! Three Alpha's! That was indeed crazy! 

I hadn’t even survived being owned by one and now they were three? Fate was indeed playing a joke on me. 

I waited all day and there was no knock, no one came to check on me. My stomach grumbled and lunch was already long due. 

I paced around the room, stared out the windows and laid on the bed for a while. I placed my hand on the mark and through the Mark, a faint thread tugged at my chest, three separate pulses. 

I felt a fraction of their emotions and it was something like confusion and chaos. 

Hours later, the door finally opened again  and I sat up on the bed. I was expecting to see Rider but it was not even him or Declan. 

Raven stepped inside quietly this time, closing the door without a sound. His expression was composed, but tension coiled beneath it.

“How are you?” He calmly asked after staring at me for a while. 

“Well I'm just here.” I casually said.

Raven calmly walked towards me. He was holding a package in his hands. He stopped directly in front of me and dropped the lunch on my table then turned to stare hard at me as if inspecting me. Staring deep into my eyes. 

“The pack has never had a tri-bond before,” he said. “This is indeed complicated.” 

His eyes flicked to the collar on my throat as he stared at the mark. I just bowed my head slightly and didn't say anything much. 

“It's also complicated for me too but I'm the one locked up.” I said calmly. 

“That,” he admitted, “This is no longer as simple as it was and you'll have to remain here for now” He tried to speak in the most friendly way he can. 

A flicker of something dangerous sparked in my chest. “I’m not some property.” I frowned as I clenched my fists. 

Raven studied me with open assessment now. “You need to understand something. This bond doesn’t make you safe.”

I held his gaze. “I never assumed it did.”

“It makes you valuable,” he corrected.

Valuable. That was a different kind of word that I had not heard in a long time. 

Raven moved toward the door again, pausing before he left.

“They’re angry,” he said quietly. “Rider most of all. He doesn’t like being taken by surprise.”

I swallowed. “Am I in danger?”

Raven’s gaze lingered on me for a long moment. “Yes,” he said honestly. “But not in the way you think, just be a good girl and you will be fine.” 

He finally said before he left me alone again.

I lay back slowly against the pillows, staring at the ceiling carved with crescent moons.

The contract had made me theirs but fate had other plans. 

I stayed the whole day inside the room and the next morning arrived with cool weather. 

The curtains that had been drawn back let in pale light spilling across the marble floors and gilded walls. 

The room was very spacious and also well furnished. I stood by the window as I rubbed the Mark at my throat as it pulsed faintly beneath the diamond collar.

I hadn’t seen the Triplets since the night before ever since Raven came in. 

Suddenly a soft knock sounded on my door and before I could even react it opened without waiting for permission.

Lia stepped inside with a haughty expression on her face. “Well,” Lia said, her gaze sweeping over me where I stood near the window. “It still lives.”

I frowned, what now?